


Saltmates

by audiaphilios



Series: From Tumblr With Lo-- [29]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Headcanon, Headcanon-turned-Fic, I Blame Tumblr, M/M, Rare Pairings, Right there in the middle sorry about that, Saltmates to Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-18 23:28:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9407573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/audiaphilios/pseuds/audiaphilios
Summary: “Whoa, Dex– does he actually know you’re gay?”“What? I mean, isn’t it obvious? I’ve not hidden it. I don’t date women. I spent most of last semester hooking up with Greg on the swim team at Haus parties.”Holster ponders this, because he hadn’t actually noticed.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Anonymous asked:  
> I heard you were the one to ask about holodex,, hit me up w your thoughts because the ship sounds so pure
> 
> Below, you'll see the evolution from headcanon to The Night They Got Together.
> 
> [Originally posted to tumblr August 3, 2016.](http://audiaphilios.tumblr.com/post/148389189650/i-heard-you-were-the-one-to-ask-about-holodex)

UGH dear friends, which of you was with me when we christened Holodex, and has an amazing fic floating somewhere in the unformed ether? I’m terrible at keeping track of my conversations, and am a rare pair wretch. (I also need to track down that soulmate AU I sketched out and still need to write… anyone?)

Okay, here’s the thing about Holodex. I feel like Unrequited Holster™ is a Real Thing. And while I _love_  reading Dex/Nursey, I don’t actually ship them all that much (my like-to-reblog ratio is probably something like 1-to-30).

But Holster and Dex? Well, I feel like there’s a natural space to bond over Managing Their Partners/Lineys. I feel like they’d bond over being their own brand of laid-back (not anxiety-ridden or aggressively chill). I think they’re both more likely to go into hockey as a career than the other two– at least, they take that possibility more seriously, and therefore hockey more seriously.  They’re both going into practical but not grand-passion majors with the point of Getting A Good Job (solid back-up plan if hockey doesn’t work).

They’re both nurturers, but in different ways: Holster likes being the physically-affectionate “let me check in on you” nurturer, where as Dex is the “let me fix things and make your environment happier” kind. Holster’s also light-hearted (if with effort) where Dex gets serious or stubborn. And let’s be frank: being queer and white and hyper-masculine together gives them a shared background that is sometimes just makes talking easier. Yes, they both have privilege, but they don’t get their experiences invalidated because of said privilege. (Neither is particularly inclined to have public conversations about this stuff anyway, but they find one another Relatable because of their axis/axes of oppression.)

I feel like Dex and Holster probably start hanging out more when March enters the picture, because Holster realizes it’s his senior year and he’s got to figure out how to connect with other people once he and Ransom are no longer Holster and Ransom. He and Dex have gotten along in the past, but it turns out they’ve never really been salty with one another, and they get on OUTRAGEOUSLY well when they can be snide together. Holster helps him temper his reactions to Nursey’s particularly outrageous/irritating conclusion-jumping, Dex helps Holster stand up for himself a bit and stop taking care of Ransom so much that it’s detrimental to his own mental health and well-being. 

(I’m not saying Ransom is the type to expect everything to stay the same after he starts dating March, but there’s quite a bit of leeway your friends let you get away with when you’re single that your partner is expected to pick up when you date. Ransom wants it all, which is not a bad thing, but I don’t see him as the type to contemplate/articulate polyamory, or Holster as the type to accept that from him. Not in this headcanon, at least.)

So maybe one night at an afterparty, they’re being saltmates together. Ransom and March have activated the Door Sock, Nursey’s just panned Dex’s former Republican tendencies to a group of frogs and volleyball players, and both Dex and Holster are kind of fed up.

“I swear to god he doesn’t even acknowledge the fact that I’m gay, or want to admit that my sexuality may play a role in my politics that he doesn’t understand.”

“Whoa, Dex– does he actually know you’re gay?”

“What? I mean, isn’t it obvious? I’ve not hidden it. I don’t date women. I spent most of last semester hooking up with Greg on the swim team at Haus parties.”

Holster ponders this, because he hadn’t actually noticed.

“I had no clue, dude. Thanks for sharing with me.”

“It’s not– I’m not coming out of– How can I be coming out when I was never in the closet?”

Holster shrugs, but Dex isn’t angry. He doesn’t really get angry with Holster. Just salty.

“Well, if I’m in the closet, it’s because you guys put me there.” Dex gives Holster the side-eye. There’s only two inches in height between them, but he likes that. Holster’s brow is furrowed, but his eyes are unfocused. Dex figures he may as well give it a shot.

“So, if you didn’t know I was gay– does that mean you didn’t realize I’ve been flirting with you?”

That definitely gets Holster’s attention, and as his attention refocuses on Dex, he’s got that crooked smile and half-lidded eyes combo that pretty much wrecks Dex every time he catches it in passing. Holster’s turning towards him, using his size to angle Dex backwards along the wall.

“You said something about putting you in the closet,” he said, arm reaching around Dex but not touching– just grabbing and twisting the doorknob of the hall closet, backing Dex in as the party goes on behind and around them, oblivious.


End file.
